Bath appliance.



F. O. HILFIKER.

BATH APPLIANCE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB- I. 19H.

1,203,874. Patented Nov. 7, 1916.

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F. O. HILFIKER.

BATH APPLIANCE. APPLICATION FILED FEB. I. 1914.

Patented Nov. 7, 1916.

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FREDERICK O. HILFIKER, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK.

BATH APPLIANCE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 7, 1916.

Application filed February 7, 1914. Serial No. 817,177.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK O. HIL- FIKER, of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bath Appliances; and I do hereby declare .the following to be a full, clear, and exact provide a device of a folding nature that will be neat and inconspicuous in both its operative and inoperative positions, and the invention is further directed toward features of construction whereby the normal direct discharge of the faucet may be obtained or the water directed through the spraying device selectively and whereby this selective distribution is placed under the control of the spraying member so that it becomes automatic-according to the position assumed by the latter.

To these and other ends the invention consists in certain improvements and combinations of parts, all as will be hereinafter more fully described, the novel features being pointed out in the claims at the end of the specification.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a transverse vertical section through a bath tub showing in elevation, and attached to the faucet thereof, a bath spray appliance constructed in accordance with and illustrating one embodiment of my invention, the spray member being shown in full lines in its inop-' erative position and in dotted lines in its operative position; Fig. 2 is an enlarged elevation of the appliance, detached; Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the same, both Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 showing the spray member in inoperative position; Fig, l. is an enlarged section taken substantially on the line irl of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is an enlarged section taken substantially on the line 55 of Fig. 3; Fig. 6 is a section similar to Fig. but showing the position of the valve when the spray arms are in operative position; Fig. 7 is an enlarged plan view of one of the spray heads, and Fig. 8 is a section taken substantially on the line 8 -8 of Fig. 7.

Similar reference numerals throughout the several figures indicate the same parts.

I have illustrated my invention in the present embodiment as applied to a bath tub faucet of a familiar type now in extensive use and known as a combination faucet, in that it comprises a mixing chamber 1 into which are directed the streams from both the hot water pipe, controlled by a valve handle 2, and the cold water pipe, controlled by a valve handle 3, so that the hot and cold water is mixed in varying proportions as required and issues from the mouth 4. in a single stream of graduated temperature. Such faucets are ordinarily provided with nozzles corresponding generally in form to the nozzle member 5, shown in Fig. 6 in that they have an enlargement 6 that is pressed against a seat 7 on the faucet mouth 4 by a threaded plug collar 8 that embraces it and coiiperates with the mouth. In the practice of my invention I provide the member 5 adapted to substitution for this nozzle and to be held in attached position by the same plug collar 8. The lower projecting end of the member or nipple 5 is threaded at 9 into a casing or supply head 10 at the top of the latter, while beneath the head is a discharge outlet 11 into the tub. The interior of the head constitutes an intervening valve and supply chamber 12 between the said outlet 11 and the source of supply 9 from the faucet, and in this chamber is arranged a rotary tubular valve member 13 having an opening 14 therein that keeps the interior of the member in constant communication with the chamber 12 by reason of an annular cutout 15 in the head forming a peripheral passage, with some part of which the opening 1 1 is always in register, as shown by Figs. 1 and 6. The solid portion 16, however, of the valve member, when the latter is in the position of Fig. 6, closes the discharge outlet 11 though with the reversed position of Fig. 4: the opening 14 keeps it open and in communication with the peripheral passage 15.

The valve member 13 is inserted in the casing or head 10 from the right in Fig. 5 so that one end abuts the fixed shoulder 17 of the casing and prevents endwise movement in that direction, while the same function is performed at the other end by a compression ring 18 that is tightened down as required by screws 19. This means of ap plying yielding tension or pressure upon the valve member also has the additional purpose of preventing a too free movement thereof for purposes that will later appear.

The valve member 13, constitutes a connecting means for two communicating tubular arms 20 of a yoke-shaped spray memher to which it is rigidly connected and which enter through the ends of the head, as shown. At the outer ends of the arms which are preferably spread slightly are carried spray heads 21, the foraminous faces of which are so disposed as to discharge in a direction at right angles to the arms. The operation of the device is as follows: The temperature of the discharge from the faucet is controlled in the usual manner by the handles 2 and 8, as previously explained. V fhen the spray is not in use it is folded down within the tub to the position shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 so that the spray heads 21 are turned toward the wall of the tub near the bottom thereof and well out of the way. This position requires the valve member '16 to assume the position of Figs. 1 and 5 wherein communication is set up from the nipple 5 of the faucet through the passage 15 to the discharge outlet 11 by reason of the fact that the opening 14 in the valve member opens up communication between the latter and the passage 15 in that position. Thus, the water will discharge from the same point and in precisely the same manner as it would from the faucet were not my appliance attached thereto. For, although the arms 20 are also in communication with the source of supply through the valve member 13 and its opening 14L, the water will choose to escape at the point of least resistance namely, the outlet 11.

When it is desired to use the spray it is only necessary to rotate the yoke arms 20 upwardly and bring the spray heads 21 in a reversed and elevated position above the faucet, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, for this movement necessarily and thus automatically imparts a half revolution to the valve member 13 which closes the direct outlet 11 with the solid portion 16, as shown in Fig. 6, and forces the water to escape only by way of the arms 20 and to discharge two streams or sprays from the heads 21 in a direction toward the occupant of the tub. It will be noted that the'extent of the solid portion 16 of the valve (Fig. 6) allows a certain latitude of movement thereof without opening the outlet 11, so that the arms 20 may be adjusted at various slight inclinations to direct the sprays just where wanted within the receiving limit of the tub. Furthermore, the compression ring or washer 18 offers just that degree of resistance to the turning movement of the valve and hence of the arms to insure the permanency of the latter in any position of adjustment, though not great enough to interfere perceptibly with the efforts of the user to manually change that adjustment.

I prefer to construct the heads 21, as shown more particularly in Figs. 2, 3, 7 and 8, a hollow bracket 23 communicating with the interior of a head 21 and with the tubular arm 20 is fastened on the end of the latter and has threeears 24, 25 and 26 dis posed against the rear face of the head. Two screws 27 inserted from within the latter through a washer-plate 28 are threaded into the ears 24 and 25, while the other ear 26 receives a screw 29 having a shoulder 30 that bears against the washer-plate 28 to draw the parts together, while the head 31 thereof bears against the outer side of the foraminous face plate 22 and holds the latter down on its seat 32. Thus the one screw is used to both hold the head on the bracket and to hold the face plate on the head, while the shoulder also prevents the screw from being tightened down to such an extent as to unduly compress the preferably slightly dished plate.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a spray attachment for bath tubs, the combination with a supply head adapted to be connected to the faucet of the tub and having a direct discharge outlet, of a spray member embodying a tubular arm having a spray head at its outer end and arranged to turn about a horizontal axis with its interior in communication with the interior of the supply head and adapted to be rotated to an operative position above or an inoperative position below the supply head and faucet, and a valve portion within the iead controlled by the spray member for closing the discharge outlet in the head when the spray member is in operative position.

2. In a spray attachment for bath tubs, the combination with a supply head adapted to be connected to the faucet of the tub and having a discharge outlet, of a spray member embodying a tubular arm having a spray head at its outer end journaled at its inner end in the supply head to turn about a hori zontal axis with its interior in communication with the interior of the head and adapted to be rotated to an operative position above or'an inoperative position below the supply head and faucet, and a valve portion on the spray member within the head for closing the discharge outlet thereof when the spray member is in operative position. 7

3. Ina bath spray attachment, the combination with a supply head having a nipple at the top adapting it for attachment to a bath faucet, a discharge outlet below and an intervening horizontal transverse valve chamber, of a valve member rotatable in the chamber to open and close the discharge outlet and a vertically swinging spray arm having an elevated operative position and a lowered inoperative position, and communicating with the head through the valve memher, said spray arm being connected to the latter to actuate the same when the spray member is moved between the said positions.

4. In a bath spray attachment, the comhination with a supply head having a nipple at the top adapting it for attachment to a bath faucet, a discharge outlet below and an intervening horizontal transverse valve chamber, of a tubular yoke shaped member constituting a pair of connecting spray arms communicating with the head and adapted to adjustably assume a raised operative position above the head or a lowered inoperative oosition below the head, and a valve member constituting the connecting portion of the yoke and rotatable horizontally in the valve chamber of the head to open and close the discharge outlet with the adjusting movements of the spray arms.

5. The combination with a bath tub having a faucet in a wall thereof, and a supply Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner head communicating with the faucet, of a rigid spray arm communicating with and journaled in the head and adapted to swing upon a fixed center between a raised operative position above the faucet and a lowered inoperative position within the tub below the faucet.

6. The combination with a bath tub having a faucet in a wall thereof and a supply head communicating with the faucet and having a downwardly directed discharge outlet and a valve chamber, of a tubular yoke shaped member constituting a pair of connecting spray arms communicating with the head and adapted to assume a raised operative position above the faucet or a lowered position below the faucet and within the tub and a valve member constituting the connecting portion of the yoke and rotatable horizontally in the valve chamber of the head to open and close the discharge outlet with the adj ust-ing movements of the spray arms.

FREDERICK O. HILFIKER.

Witnesses:

RUssnLL B. GRIFFITH, H. E. STONEBRAKER.

of Patents,

Washington, I). 0. 

